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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival
material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are
physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available
through the World Wide Web. See the
section for more information.

This collection was processed with support from the sponsorship of a grant from the
National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1993.

John Mercer Brooke was a United States and Confederate naval officer, scientist, inventor,
and professor at Virginia Military Institute. The collection contains letters, 1861-1863, from Brooke to his wife; letters, 1896
and 1898, from Barton H. Wise to Brooke; Brooke's diary, 1859-1860, at Yokohama, Japan;
and his nautical log and personal diary, February-March 1860, kept while he sailed
to California on a Japanese ship, the Kanrin Maru, which was on a diplomatic mission
to the United States. Letters from Brooke to his wife, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Seldon Garnett
Brooke, concern his daughter's illness and other family matters; letters from Barton
H. Wise ask whether Brooke consulted Commodore James Barron's
Model of an Ironclad when Brooke helped Mallory develop the Merrimac. The diary Brooke kept in Yokohama
reports his work and social activities, and describes Yokohama and the Japanese people
with whom Brooke had contact. The diary Brooke kept on board the Japanese ship records
position and winds, events on shipboard, physical descriptions of Japanese officers,
necessary Japanese phrases, observations on discipline and organization of the Japanese
crew, and comments on the ship's history and equipment.

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants,
as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the John M. Brooke Papers, #3208-z, Southern Historical
Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Diary, February-March 1860, available on microfilm.

Acquisitions Information

Gift 1956; 1962

Additional Descriptive Resources

A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or
confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy
laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. §
132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of
State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.).
Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to
identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent
of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under
common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's
private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable
person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no
responsibility.

The following terms from
Library of Congress Subject
Headings
suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the
entire collection; the terms do
not usually represent
discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or
items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's
online catalog.

The collection contains letters, 1861-1863, from Brooke to his wife; letters, 1896
and 1898, from Barton H. Wise to Brooke; Brooke's diary, 1859-1860, at Yokohama, Japan;
and his nautical log and personal diary, February-March 1860, kept while he sailed
to California on a Japanese ship, the Kanrin Maru, which was on a diplomatic mission
to the United States. Letters from Brooke to his wife, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Seldon Garnett
Brooke, concern his daughter's illness and other family matters; letters from Barton
H. Wise ask whether Brooke consulted Commodore James Barron's
Model of an Ironclad when Brooke helped Mallory develop the Merrimac. The diary Brooke kept in Yokohama
reports his work and social activities, and describes Yokohama and the Japanese people
with whom Brooke had contact. The diary Brooke kept on board the Japanese ship records
position and winds, events on shipboard, physical descriptions of Japanese officers,
necessary Japanese phrases, observations on discipline and organization of the Japanese
crew, and comments on the ship's history and equipment.